LogFAQs > #932985813

31. The Wiz

Genny: 17
Inviso: 22
Johnbobb: 22
JONA: 28
Karo: 30
KBM: 33
Scarlet: 35

Genny - It's an urban take on The Wizard of Oz that doesn't come across as contrived or unnecessary (at least not to me) so what's not to like? Somehow I feel like it hasn't aged well and yet it's timeless simultaneously. I know it doesn't make much sense, but it was a fun romp.

Inviso - Its amazing to me (and this is gonna be spoilers for the list) that in the course of this list, Ive watched two films that are, in essence, remakes or reimaginings of Judy Garland movies, and in BOTH instances, Im reminded of how vital Judy Garland is to the success of this two films. The original Wizard of Oz, while not necessarily a film that sets my world on fire, worked in large part because Judy Garland was legitimately young and nave, and she was able to sell the wide-eyed fear of being thrust into the land of Oz. Diana Ross just feels too adult and mature to really sell this Im afraid of leaving home character. And in a way, I feel like the The Wiz is MORE of a musical than Wizard of Ozto its detriment. Because the movie felt the need to have song after song after song, there was less room for plot or character development. By the time Evilline shows up, comes almost out of nowhere, because shes never shown before the ending. I dunno. As much as I enjoyed the songs well enough, I just think they detracted from the film as a FILM.

Johnbobb - Still not sure how to feel about The Wiz. The whole thing is kind of a sight to behold. It's ridiculous and over-the-top with wild set design and mostly catchy songs. It's not an objectively great movie, but it is a fun one, and Diana Ross just kills it.
Favorite song: A Brand New Day

JONA - If only that W was upside-down, I would rank this at #3. The portrayal of Dorothy here is just awful. Shes absolutely pathetic and it gets really tiring seeing Diana Ross looking real scared like she dont want none. Diana Ross makes her so overemotional even when it comes to scenes where shes not crying. While this world of Oz seems interesting with its urban setting and how dark it is, it seems to play everything straight like its the same Oz like in the original. The Munchkins coming out of the wall, yet still being so cheerful is pretty frightening. I guess you could argue that its that way because its about Dorothy overcoming her fears shown in the beginning, but it just isnt a factor at the end. The camerawork is really bad. There are a bunch of zoomed out shots that feel unnecessary and even hinder some of the numbers. Sure is nice seeing the far backsides of Dorothy and Scarecrow as they ease on down the road. The final number is just a zoomed-in shot on Dorothys face singing and Diana Ross staring into my soul. This could have been a neat variant on the Wizard of Oz with some decent numbers and an interesting aesthetic, but it just doesnt pull itself together.
Favorite Song: You Can't Win, You Can't Break Even

Karo - The infamous 'Wizard of Oz, only with black people' from the 70's, a time when many regrettable decisions were made and this movie's existence absolutely is one of them.
Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing sinful about taking a classic and giving it a soulful flavor, but my oh my do they fuck this shit up HARD.
So where do things start to go wrong? Almost immediately. The original Oz was about traveling from a boring kansas farm to the fantastical world over the rainbow. There was tons of magic and wonder to be had, it was a very different place than what Dorothy was used to, a place you wanted to visit yourself.
Here, Dorothy goes from the ghetto to... another ghetto with people in bad cosplay. The world is dreary, stupid and unappealing. It somehow has worse looking sets, makeup, and special effects than the movie made in the fucking 1930's.
But at least the music is good, right? Well, for the most part, yes. Whenever they were doing the lively upbeat motown musical numbers things were always fun, but after that Dorothy always goes and sings a bland ballad that is dull as mud and I nearly fall asleep.
Anyway the plot is the same old story of Dorothy and her variously disabled friends following the yellow brick sidewalk to new york city, where they kill the wicked witch with the sprinkler system and everyone strips and dances around in their undies.
There was surprisingly little stereotyping, outside of the atrocious scarecrow intro scene. I guess they thought cinema didnt have nearly enough racist portrayals of black people by anthropomorphic crows.
It is boring, phoned-in, and goes on for way too long. It's not even bad or stupid enough to be a silly cult movie, it is just an insipid piece of rubbish cobbled together at the tail end of the blaxpoitation era that you are honestly better off just listening to the soundtrack for.

Score: 33/100

Best Song: 'Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News'